Oliver saw Xander at the bar and made beeline for the man, dodging a waiter who heading toward a table with his own tray of drinks. Oliver offered Xander a sweet smile before taking his hand but pulled the man into a hug. It was brief but still worm in greeting.

Turning his attention to the bartender he ordered a simple vodka cocktail. Starting off the night nice and slow.

"So would you like to get a table and talk? Or just hang out here at the bar?" Oliver asked as he noticed a couple leave their tale. It was in a nice quiet part of the bar.

You have liked this post!

The hug was a surprise, but a very pleasant one. Xander returned the hug with a slight squeeze, his hand returning to his scotch as he drank in the sight of Oliver under the low lighting.

"A table would probably be better" He gestured towards the recently vacated spot, sliding into the booth seating decorated with burnt-gold leather and studded with polished brass buttons. His glass touched the smooth tabletop, fingers brushing against Oliver's hand when the other man placed his own drink down, although it was up for debate wither or not that was intentional.

"How was work?"

You have liked this post!

Oliver took a quick sip of his drink before following Xander to the booth seating. His eyes went to where their fingers have brushed but he ignored the gesture. He wasn't 18 again and didn't need to blush over every gesture no matter how much they reminded him of time long past. Embracing the silence for a moment Oliver sipped his drink and watched the people in the bar. Some were in large groups but most were couples. For a moment Oliver thought that they would look like a couple and he wasn't sure if he liked that idea.

Focusing back on Xander as he asked the question Oliver shrugged his shoulders. "It was alright. I'm assisting this total jackass and I would rather not talk about it. Instead, tell me about your work. " Oliver spoke taking a bigger sip of his drink, the cooling sensation of vodka was nice.

You have liked this post!

Xander chuckled softly.

"Sounds like my old boss ... He retired two months ago, you could almost feel a weight being lifted off the department when he walked out. He pretended we were sad, of course, and that we wanted reassurance we could contact him if we were really lost ... I think we will only contact him to let him know that we hated his haddock and onion sandwiches and to tell him to trim his nose-hair for once!"

Xander sipped his drink, returning his gaze to Oliver.

"I hope this 'total jackass' isn't giving you too hard a time. You could apply for a transfer to my library ... They're always looking for new people with good experiance or specialities that aren't students or travelling academics" He paused, watching the scotch in his glass reflect the light from above them, "Though, you probably don't want to move .... You still want to teach, right?"

You have liked this post!

Oliver felt the corner of his eyes wrinkle as he smiled at Xander's story. While he didn't have a boss that he worked closely with, besides Blaize of course, he could still relate to the story. A horrible boss was a horrible boss.

Sipping his drink, Oliver let his finger circled the rim. It was out of anxiety, something to keep his hand busy. He was admittedly a bit nervous to be having a drink with Xander. It felt almost like old times, despite there being a tension in the air between them.

The offer to apply and work at the library had Oliver grateful he hadn't taken a big drink again. He didn't want to spit it out while he stared at Xander.

'You'd want to work with me?' Oliver almost asked but decided to keep his mouth shut. Instead, he nodded in agreement at the suggestion of him teaching.

"Yeah, I'm actually working on a course. It's intended to be a summer class and for only a limited amount of students but I'm doing it. I'm really excited for it. Just the other day I had Blaize help me get an old book from the storage library. Nearly fell to my death but it was worth it," Oliver told him, tapering off as he talked, realizing that he had brought up Blaize without really thinking. Would Xander be able to tell? Or would the mention of the man go unnoticed?

You have liked this post!

Xander didn't seem to notice the 'Blaize' part ... mostly because his thoughts, along with the journey of his scotch glass to his mouth, came to a screeching halt as he stared at Oliver.

"You almost fell to your death?" Xander stared at him, mouth agape after that shocked statement. It was sometimes easy to forget that not everyone lived in the world of near perma-danger that Blaize and Oliver lived in. Hell, Oliver had witnessed Blaize almost die a few times now, one distressingly seconds away from true death, it was something one became numb to eventually. Especially when one wasn't paying close attention.

You have liked this post!

Oliver felt his own eyes grow wide as he realized Xander's reaction. It didn't occur to him that his statement was alarming. It was just an average day at work.

"Um yeah...Blaize and I were in the library's warehouse and I wanted one of the books and needed to climb the ladder. I misjudged the distance and fell but Blaize caught me," Oliver explained, taking a sip of his drink casually. Forcing himself not to think too much about how amazing it was the Blaize caught him.

"I'm fine, I mean I'm still here," He added with a little smile.

You have liked this post!

He wondered just how far up this ladder was, if Oliver felt the need to mention he almost fell to his death .... being caught implied a small distance, but the lethality of a fall pointed towards a much greater height.
"I guess this is why health and safety is a thing" He offered a weak smile, sipping his Scotch, "I don't have that problem ... at least, not quite that exciting. The documents I touch tend to come in special cases and need delicate hands and gloves to even turn a page"

"So, teaching a summer class? What are you going to be teaching about?"

You have liked this post!

Oliver nodded, understanding a little of what Xander was talking about. Being a lover of books himself, Oliver found it a struggle to see them in special cases. While he respected the books for their age, he rather work with something he could touch. Things in little neat boxes just seemed boring.

As the question drifted toward his summer classes, Oliver again found himself back in his element.

"It's a class on the history and uses of coins in the early year of the Roman Empire. Spanning from their design and value to their cultural significance and spiritual meanings," Oliver explained realizing he was giving the 'long' version of what his class was about. Feeling a bit embarrassed about it, he took the final bit of his drink and swung it back. The alcohol having a cooling but invigorating effect.

You have liked this post!

He couldn't help but laugh a little at the title of Oliver's class. Memories of the books that his ex used to bury his nose in when it wasn't a required book for class resurfaced, and he never understood some of the more obscure topics he tended to drift towards.

"Coins ... I remember you had books about that, a really huge one that was falling apart about mints and franking. Only book left in the country that had all the pages together ..." He shook his head, "Well, I hope your class goes well. Who knows? Next time I see you, I might have to start calling you Professor Oliver"

You have liked this post!

Oliver smiled, thinking back on the book that Xander was talking about. It had been a thrift store treasure and one of his favorite reads. The book was still in possession, having been repaired decently by one of the school's librarians.

At the mention of being called 'Professor Oliver', his ears turned a little pink as his eyes fell to look at the glass.

"I won't be a professor for awhile. I'm not really at the school enough currently to even apply for anything long-term. For now, I'm happy with just teaching summer classes, between expeditions." Oliver explained as he waved over a bartender to get him another drink. Two was his planned limit, anything more would only spell disaster.

"Enough about me, more about you. What sort of books were you here for?" Oliver asked pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose in the typical Oli fashion: with the middle finger on the bridge.

You have liked this post!

"Were you thinking of doing a pHD? I might in the future, I'm not sure ..." He downed the rest of his drink in one as Oliver waved over a bartender, intending to have his own glass refilled as well.

"Oh, you know, mostly reference materal ..." Brushing some droplets of condensation off the smooth countertop with the side of his hand, "Historial records, things like that. Most of them are unique and hand-filled, so we always need to make sure there is anotherl copy made. Books can fall apart suddenly, you know, or having a copy shipped around the world just isn't in the item's best interest. Usually we just hand-copy things, or we have a typist transcribe it. The really exciting part is the library has finally put some money down on getting an upgrade to the restoration area ... we can take in books that are barely clinging onto their ink and bring up the words! It's amazing what the boys in chemistry can do these days ..."

You have liked this post!

Pondering the thought of earning his Ph.D., had Oliver caught up in the idea. He never really thought of earning his doctorate. It was sort of something just out of his reach considering money was a major factor. However, the idea of being Dr. Marks did bring forth a smile. Perhaps in the far away future, it could be a thing.

Bringing his attention back to Xander, Oliver smiled in renewed interest. Talk of books always caught his eye, to others it was boredom and a snooze fest, but that wasn't the case for Oliver.

Listening with his eyes focused on Xander's words to make sure he understood each phrase as they were said. Oliver's habit of 'lip reading' was purely subconscious and one he didn't even notice, nonetheless it was present in this interactions.

Smiling softly at how impressed Xander sounded about the new technology, made Oliver's smile bigger.

"I'm happy that they finally took things seriously. I would love to see some of the older books you got. The library here is big but nothing older than seventy-five years," Oliver stated just as the waiter returned with their drinks. Taking his Oliver picked up his glass in a toast.

"Heres to new degrees and better tech," Oliver spoke with a smile big enough to wrinkle the corner of his eyes.

You have liked this post!

"Oh, it took a long while to make them see it was worth it ... but we got there in the end" Xander smiled back, his glass softly clinking against Olivers in an unsolicited joint toast.

"So" The loaded question was uncorked like a fine wine and allowed to breathe before Xander poured the words, "Are you seeing anyone?"

You have liked this post!

Oliver nearly choked on his drink but managed to swallow it down after calming himself. The question came out of nowhere and nearly blindsided him. Oliver's honest reflex was to answer yes! that he was happily involved with Blaize Elliot and the two were almost living together, but realistically Oliver knew that wasn't entirely true.

Blaize had only offered to let him stay the night because of the funeral. The conversation the other day after being called out by Richard about their relationship wasn't helpful either. Instead, it left over in a sort of limbo state. He knew that Blaize wasn't the type to settle down or have any sort of committed relationship. But Oliver couldn't help but hope he would be different after all Blaize did return to him.

However, the more he dwelled on his internal struggle the longer Xander went without an answer. Taking a second sip of his drink he resigned to answer.

"It's complicated,"

You have liked this post!